Virginia A. Spiegel

Portage: Set Forth

I did a stint at the Studio Art Quilt Associates‘ booth for a bit during International Quilt Festival-Chicago. I came away with a newfound appreciation for those leaders of SAQA who are donating their time and effort to run “a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the art quilt through education, exhibitions, professional development and documentation.”

To that end, I decided everyone (including me) has time to make a 12″ square art quilt for the SAQA One Foot Square Auction to be held November 10 online.

If you are not a member of SAQA, follow the link above and join. If you want to move the whole world of art quilts onward and upward, this is the organization to join and support.

With the whole series thing on my mind, I decided to take another look at some fabric I had painted while working on my Portage show.

I had eight pieces that were never finished because they didn’t fit the size or palette of my show. Perfect!

Step one: Use some of my peppy new rayon thread (Superior Rainbows) and stitch in a casual wavy manner over a pink, navy and brown piece. For a change of pace, I actually had a three-layer sandwich (top, cotton batting, dyed backing) going.

Step two: Using what I had at hand (Timtex), I cut some viewing frames. I should have used a bigger scrap as I had exactly 12″ pieces; it works much better when your frames are bigger or if you can cut two L-shaped pieces. Usually I cut a hole in a piece of paper or interfacing and use that as a frame to choose what to keep and what to cut. Speed does not always equal efficiency.

Step Three: Here’s another 12″ square possibility with a lot more movement and mystery. It also shows more of the tan/brown/darker pink side of the piece that is needed to balance the many canoes and add contrast.

I made the final cut down to 12″ square and the piece was ready for some kind of edging. I have taken a vow against bindings and am still searching for the perfect way to finish off the edge of textile artwork. Did the invisible thread straight stitch, followed by a zigzag - no. Did the variegated thread zigzag - even more of a no. I finally settled on a variegated cotton ribbon, stitched on through the center with invisible thread and then zigzagged around the edge.

More and more I think that small textile works such as these should be framed to give them their proper “weight” on the wall.

Path

Prairies need to be burned and this wonderful design emerged at the prairie center about two weeks ago. The prairie has so greened up now that you can’t even see the path.

Nature report: Two wood ducks tried to find a nesting hole in our shagbark hickories. If you didn’t know that wood ducks nested in trees, you wouldn’t believe DUCKS sitting so high up in a tree. I am going to research where to obtain a wood duck nesting box and how it should be placed for next year. They are beautiful birds. Still no wrens or orioles. Of course, we had snow flakes yesterday, so perhaps there is no rush. Canadian geese in Rockford had goslings already last week

The photo today for The Garbage Day Project was a lucky find.

September 3
More about this collage.

Click here to see all 235 collages donated by more than 100 artists worldwide.

Patron Preview Week is your opportunity to stroll through the artwork, click on links to read about and see more of the artists’ artwork, and make your shopping list.

If you are one of the generous Collage Mania artists, please let me know of any corrections that need to be made.

Collage Mania opens Monday, May 5 at 9 a.m. and continues May 6. Thanks to the generosity of the donating artists, 100% of the proceeds are donated directly to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause. For all the details on how to participate in Collage Mania, click here.

Collage Mania will remain indefinitely on my website as a resource for collage artists.

My sister said “ice out” day on her lake in MN was this week, so it is WAY to early to be thinking about canoeing in the Boundary Waters which usually has ice until early May in a normal year. But check out this new shirt design donated by Jeanelle McCall for the FFAC Shop

OK, maybe you can only be excited if you are a paddler, but I think Jeanelle outdid herself. I gave her the slogan and zip, back came this design. What talent! I can’t wait to add a shirt with this design to my FFAC clothes collection.

You can see this and all the other great designs, all related to fiber or the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, at the FFAC Shop. Of course, all the profits, $5 per item, are donated to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause.

If you have items you would like to see in the shop, please let me know.

And that’s not all!

Jeanelle also designed and donated this new stunning logo for FFAC. The photo is one I took at dawn in the Boundary Waters from the canoe. The logo can be added to your blog or website as a button by following the directions here.

She also made a small version of the logo with the url included. Let me know if you would like a copy to run in an an electronic publication as a small ad.

Fiberart For A Cause has donated over $150,000 to the American Cancer Society in the past three years. Our goal for this year is $30,000 more; we are almost halfway there.

Joy Hellman
Creation Story

All 235 collages donated by more than 100 artists (all women) from around the world to Collage Mania will be available for preview beginning next Monday, April 28. I will post the url here and there will also be a link from the Collage Mania home page here.

Please note that the collages will be in the approximate order in which they were donated; a list of participating artists in the order their collages were received is here.

There won’t be an alpha index to artists as I do want patrons to stroll through the pages during Preview Week and perhaps see some art that might otherwise escape their attention.

The Collage Mania pages will remain on my website indefinitely after Collage Mania, May 5 and 6, as a resource for collage artists.

On to the collages:

Joy Hellman
Creation Story

Joy Hellman sent seven collages and this is one of my favorites. It is 8″h x 7″w and materials include fiber and mixed media. The collage is mounted on 8″x10″ mat board, signed, dated and ready for framing. Joy is a prolific artist working in a variety of media. You can see more of Joy’s artwork work on her blog.

Jeri Pollack
Ice Melt

Materials included in Ice Melt by Jeri Pollack are tissue paper, yarn, Angelina fibers, cotton thread, seed beads, Shiva paint sticks, glass beads, and acrylic medium. The collage is 10″h x 8″w x .5″d and mounted on 10″x8″ turquoise mat board, signed, dated and ready for framing. Read more about Jeri’s art and adventures on her blog.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that all collages are mounted to fit a standard 10″x8″ frame (either vertically or horizontally).

100% of the proceeds, thanks to the generosity of the participating artists, are donated directly to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause.